YOU'RE WHAT!
Disclaimer: The Cullen's, the Swans, and most of the characters mentioned in the story that are known from Stephanie Meyer's beloved Twilight Saga, are all hers and hers alone. I neither have nor wish to pass them off as mine. I do appreciate the fact that she did bring them to life and allows us to play with them in our imaginations. The only thing I will claim is the current storyline.
The awesome and talented dowlingnana searched out my errors and corrected them.
"The light touches, the whispered words and the smallest of movements felt as if your body had been turned into a finely tuned instrument that only he could play to bring forth the purest sounds and feelings that could ever be felt before bursting into the flame of life. Wonder if Southern Drawl's technique is the same in real life?"
But, before Rosalie or Bella could comment the two U. S. Marshalls walked in and it was time to begin the meeting.
CHAPTER 5: THE FIRST SIGNS OF DANGER
"Sam, Felix, good to see you this morning. How did everything go last night with our three ducklings?" Bella asked as a way of greeting the two men that entered the conference room with a smile on her face and a lightness sounding in her voice.
"Quite good, actually. We did have a few laughs at the ducklings, as you just called them, but, it was a quiet night in regards to the fact no one other than a few women kept trying to get the attention of the three. But, at each approach the ladies were shot down and the three could be seen doing a quick glance around looking for something or someone." Sam Uley answered while his partner laughed at the memories as the three FBI agents were told of the events.
"Did anyone of these women stand out that we might need to be concerned about?" Bella asked.
"Nothing really, but, just to be on the safe side we did get video of each of them from the moment of approach to the time of shoot down. Felix," Sam indicated his partner, "thought it would be better than taking the chance of someone catching on that pictures were being snapped, no matter how well hidden the photographer might be. And, with this method we will be able to have a complete sweep of all occupants in the place from time to time in order to be able to make comparisons of who comes and who goes while our little group is still there. That was done at each of the three clubs they visited before calling it a night.
"I think all of that is mentioned in the reports, but, most of the agents on duty were unaware of the taping that was taking place. So, there will be some differences in the reports from each of the agents on duty.
"However, the taping only covered the club hopping, not any action after they each went home." Sam finished with his explanation.
"That's a good idea. It will give more information as to how the guys react to the women and also give us information as to who or what each woman was doing before they approached our witnesses. We might be able to discover some valuable information in those areas that might have otherwise been overlooked." Rosalie commented as she gave a smile to Felix Maxwell.
Maxwell smiled and gave a nod to acknowledge the compliment that had been given to him from one of the elite of the elite; one of the three people that he admired for their professionalism.
Felix Maxwell was a quiet, but, very efficient officer to make sure he did his job well. He only had one regret before he became an U. S. Marshall and that was when he had failed to find the person that had murdered his wife and child. The police department where he had begun his career had ruled it an accident, but, all of the evidence he had seen pointed to murder, not an accident.
The more he had dug to find out who had committed the murders it seemed the more he was blocked. He couldn't really say that anyone in the department was trying to stop him, but, it created a festering frustration inside of him that he wasn't able to get anywhere with investigating it. It was at that point that he applied and was accepted to become a Marshall. So, in his off duty time Felix is still looking for the person or persons that took away his family; he's still trying to find out the reasoning of their deaths while trying to discover and collect the necessary evidence to bring him or them to justice.
Felix had been partnered with Sam Uley from the first day he had shown up for work and they seemed to have become close, very close, more like brothers. Sam knew about his mission and even helped him with the cause. But, Sam's family welcomed him as an addition into their family and he became godfather and adopted uncle to Sam's children.
Now, Sam Uley had always wanted to be an U. S. Marshall and trained for it from day one when he knew at fourteen what he wanted to be. He talked with his dad who happened to be friends with the local police chief and arrangements were made for Sam to be able to work in and around the police station until he was old enough start meeting the qualifications necessary to be a U. S. Marshall. And, as the necessary qualifications were acquired in regards to education and then to the practical background and application that led to his applying to the police academy in Seattle. Once he graduated top of his class from the academy Sam returned home and told his dad and the chief what he wanted to do and that he was ready to take the next step to reach his goal. In no time at all Sam was accepted into the Marshall's program as it seemed that the police chief had some friends and pull with some of the higher ups in that agency.
And for doing Sam that favor and making his dream come true Sam felt that he owed the chief a favor to watch over his little girl once she joined the FBI. Sam Uley made sure that Chief Charlie Swan's daughter received all of the help she requested to be able to help keep her and her team safe. However, it didn't take long for him to realize that his watchful eye to keep her safe wasn't really needed. The young woman had been taught well by her father, excelled through the academy and then through the FBI academy. She had graduated with high honors from high school, then college before entering the law enforcement training programs.
Also, from what Sam had discovered about her two partners, they, too, had been exceptional throughout their education and training. The three worked hard in what was considered to be strictly a man's world and had outshone all of their counterparts. It seemed that after the FBI had taken a closer look at the three's work it appeared that they especially excelled at witness protection and with them at the head, a whole new task force was created within the FBI. Only select agents could be accepted and this task force was paired to work with other outside agencies when the need arose. That was how the U. S. Marshall's office would become involved more than any other federal agency.
Quiet settled over the conference room while each person present took the time to read over the reports that had been turned in by each shift of agents that had been assigned to watch over their witnesses during the night. Nothing outstanding was reflected in the reports, but, the hope that something might stand out in the videos was there. So, all five agents turned to videos that were turned in.
But, as they watched nothing out of the ordinary seemed to catch anyone's interest at first. However, the more time spent going over the videos a second time the three FBI agents did pick up on something that would need further investigation; something that was missed by the actual agents on sight and by both Sam and Felix as well.
"Did you see what I saw?" Alice asked as she turned to look at Bella and Rosalie before turning her glance in Sam's and Felix's direction.
"What are you concerned with, Alice?" Felix asked as he turned his gaze back towards the monitor that at the present time was showing a blank screen.
"Yeah, I thought I had noticed it the first time, but, wasn't sure until this second run through." Confirmed both Bella and Rosalie.
"Sorry, but, I'm not sure what you three are seeing. I'm afraid that I have to ask the same question as Felix as to what seemed to be concerning you three. What is it that you have seen that we've missed? You have to remember that we were on sight to watch over our charges until they decided to go home and we never saw anything out of the norm." Sam reminded the three women as he also questioned as to what had caught their attention.
"I would suggest that before we answer both of you and your questions that we view the video once more and we all look a bit more closely to make sure that what we think we're seeing is actually being seen." Rosalie suggested instead of answering. It was a method to make sure that what appeared to be there was truly there for the three women, but, at the same gave the two Marshalls a chance to see what was being seen by the FBI agents.
So, once more quietness ruled the five people in the conference room as they watched the actions of their witnesses of the night before and all of the interactions that was taking place between them and others putting the moves on them.
During the first club visited nothing seemed out of place to the two Marshalls, but, the three women were paying more attention to a particular person. As the video for the second club visited was running Bella, Rosalie and Alice noticed the two Marshalls shifting position as if something had caught their attention. But, as the video from the third club was running both Sam and Felix was sitting at full attention as they watched more closely what was happening.
"How the hell did we miss that?" Both men questioned each other aloud. "We were present during all of this taking place and we still missed what was taking place right underneath our noses. Damn, this isn't acceptable from any of us." They were each berating themselves, but, the other agents that had been present as well.
"Don't be too hard on yourselves or anyone else at the moment, but, you do need to have words with your crew to make sure their observational techniques are tightened up. We can't afford to have this sort of thing to continue to happen without questions being asked and then answers being provided." Bella told Sam and Felix.
"I agree with you. What we have just seen is unacceptable. But, not only did we miss it as well as the others on duty." Felix remarked as he was upset with all of them and they inability to notice what could have been a possible danger to the three witnesses. If anything had happened last night it would have been a mark against the U. S. Marshall's office and against the entire team.
"Well, I don't think we need worry over what did happen since it led to nothing more than an attempt to get close to our ducklings. However, everyone needs to be more alert and on their toes to stop anything like this from happening again." Bella did tell them in a kindly, but, still professionally sounding voice.
"We've received a sort of warning last night which now, thanks to the videos, we are made aware of, so, now we need to be more alert and on the watch for it happening again. Then we can make a move to stop it before the danger can get close to our guys again." Rosalie added.
No further words were exchanged as all persons viewed the videos once more to become more familiar with the warning signs that had unknowingly appeared last night.
A/N: Well, Felix had a good idea of doing videos instead of the normal picture taking that was usually done. But, somehow, all of the agents, including Sam and Felix, missed danger coming near our guys. What did they miss?
Hope you will enjoy this newest story and will let me know your thoughts, ideas and comments as we move forwards.